Month: May 2015

If you didn’t know there was a color run Downtown yesterday, and you parked on Front Street, you are going to have a rude awakening the next time you see your car.

Credit to Lana Danko from Kooky Canuck for the photo. Get by Kooky for some great Canadian food and drinks. The Yonge St. Burger and the poutine are two of my favorites.

Last day for Brewery Revival. I’ve been there every day this week. Ah, the drunk conversations there are the best. Here are a couple of samples from yesterday:

We were discussing the free yoga class that happened earlier in the day, and the conversation turned to this: “Out in San Francisco they have classes to teach women how to have an orgasm. For women who have never had one. Men don’t need classes, they know how.”

Looking at the beer selection: “Do you know what Memphis Made product they carry?” “No, but I know what Milwaukee Made product they carry, and it’s PBR.”

Congratulations to Sepp Blatter on being re-elected as FIFA’s president. The election kind of reminds me of the 1957 Apalachin Meeting where Don Vito was confirmed as the head of the Genovese crime family.

The groups for the Women’s World Cup have been announced. USA is in group D along with Australia, Sweden, and Nigeria. I’m not the world’s biggest soccer fan but I will be watching this. Abby Wambach is a legend in her own time. If you were too young to see Michael Jordan play basketball or Muhammad Ali box, watch Abby.

The Redbirds play Salt Lake at 1:35 at AutoZone Park. There’s a special Sunglass Sunday ticket available that gets you a pair of Cardinals sunglasses as well as a seat. First 2500 kids 12 and under get a free ice cream treat, and kids can run the bases after the game.

Historian Jimmy Ogle is conducting one of his free tours this afternoon at 2, walking from Martyrs Park to Ashburn-Coppock Park. Martyrs Park is beautiful and is one of the hidden gems of Downtown. Go down FOUR-LANE (!!!!!! ) Riverside Drive and turn right on Virginia Ave. right before Riverside turns into I-55 to get there.

If you want to avoid me at all costs, these are the places you don’t want to be today, and the approximate times you don’t want to be there, because if you are there you’ll have to run from me and hide from me and badly hurt my feelings for doing so: Brunch with Bloom at Bardog at 11, D-RANKS with B-RAD at Blind Bear at 1, Brewery Revival at some point after that.

At the Bear I will probably get to have drinks with my groupie, who is a large Indian man who puts fruit in his drinks. Where did my life go wrong?

When I left you yesterday, I was trying to decide whether to hit Italian Fest out east or do South Main Green Bus Night. Thinking it over in the afternoon, I decided Uber fare + admission to the park + tipping in the booths I visited would make Italian Fest more expensive than it was worth. So, Green Bus Night won. I got out about 6:10 – late start for me – and headed south down the Main Street Mall. I hurried to make up for time, although something caught my eye at City Market momentarily and I nearly went in.

I caught up with my friends Gary, Boo, Mike, and Bad Shane on the south side (thanks Bad Shane for the sangria) and they said, “Want to come to the yoga studio with us?” I asked, “what yoga studio?” and they said “come see.” There’s a new yoga place called Downtown Yoga at 515 S. Main. I picked up a couple of flyers and took photos (click for larger-sized images; it’s not easy to take good pictures of flyers with this super-thin iPhone 6).

Today is Amtrak Train Day at the Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum at Central Station. Trains, a vintage cab bus, and a fire truck will be on display. There will be food by Double J and live music. Free food? Too bad the Nuh-Uh Girl had to leave town the day after BBQ Fest.

The Peabody announced the second half of its Thursday night rooftop party lineup this week. Here it is:

June 18: The DMP Band
June 25: Transit
July 2: The 17th Floor
July 9: Star & Micey with Tyrannosaurus Chicken
July 16: The 5th Kind
July 23: Your Girlfriend
July 30: The Dantones
August 6: The M80s
August 13: Ingram Hill

I saw a tweet from the Memphis Tin Roof that they have Nashville hot chicken on the menu. I have always wanted to try that. I sampled it at a Yazoo beer dinner at Flying Saucer a couple of years ago and liked what I ate.

All right. Time to hit the Farmers Market. Knowing that there’s a yoga class at the brewery that will let out about 11, and a lot of those people are potential Farmers Market customers, I may push my stay at the market past what would normally be the start of Panda Time at Bardog. Panda Time will happen, although it could be as late as 1:30. Saturday!

Yesterday I went down to Brewery Revival to see two friends of mine who were in town from Chicago for the day. I will really miss the brewery after Revival ends this Sunday. Such a unique and fantastic concept. If you haven’t been yet, you really need to go see it for yourself while you still can. Even if you just walk through the place and leave (there’s no admission charge), you need to see it.

What a beautiful crowd, I thought. The place was full of beautiful women in their 20s and 30s. Where do these people hang out when they’re not at the brewery? Of the roughly 150 people in the place, I knew maybe 20. The guy/girl ratio was far better than at any of the bars where I hang out. I wondered why I’ve been going anywhere else but the brewery the past 7 weeks.

I’ve mentioned the craft beer, food trucks, game room, and art, but I have been forgetting to mention the mobile T-shirt vendor booth that operates in there. You can buy Revival T-shirts and many more printed T-shirts. One of the best shirts (although I didn’t buy it) reads:

“CHICKENPOTPIE
My 3 favorite things”

The brewery is the only place where I will pay $10 for 28 ounces of PBR, but after two of them I was ready for a change. I bounced over to Max’s Sports Bar. Lately on Facebook there has been a debate about how long you should cook a steak. Some people (myself included) believe that cooking a steak well done ruins it. Last night we learned that you shouldn’t cook school lunchroom pizza well done either.

I grabbed a seat next to my BBQ teammate Otto, who pulled up my blog on his phone. “There’s yoga at the brewery Saturday at 9:30? You should go,” he commented.

“Dude, no one wants to see me do yoga, believe me,” I replied.

“Damn straight no one wants to see you do yoga, son!” said Otto. “But you need to go and take pictures.”

About 10 I headed back north, stopping at the Blind Bear. To my pleasant surprise, Pam & Terry were playing.

I had forgotten they play the last Thursday of the month at the Bear. I talked to the talented duo and confirmed they will be back next month.

Lots going on tonight. Jerry Seinfeld performs live at the Orpheum this evening, and I have no doubt the place will be packed.

Then there’s the nationally televised championship boxing match at Handy Park, Third and Beale, starting at 7. That should pack a lot of people in too.

It’s also South Main Green Bus Night, formerly South Main Trolley Night. Many of the shops and galleries will be open until 9 or later. Some will have specials or discounts, some will have free hors d’oeuvres and/or booze. Great way to meet your neighbors. If you go down there, check out the singer-songwriter night at 550 South Main.

The Redbirds are back in town and play the Salt Lake Bees at 7:05. Fans will get a coupon for a free Whopper from Burger King with the purchase of fries and a drink as they exit the park.

As for my plans for the evening, I am undecided. One option is to split an Uber ride with two of my friends out to Italian Fest. We have a couple of booths we can get into, and it would be something fun and different. If I go out there I will get pictures. Paul Ryburn east of Danny Thomas on a weekend night is one of the signs of the Apocalypse.

The other option is to do Trol… er, Green Bus Night on South Main, which would probably include a visit to the brewery. (By the way, I’m KIDDING about going down there and taking yoga pics tomorrow, just in case anyone is irrational enough to believe I would do that.) This would be less adventurous than Italian Fest but there are some advantages: No Uber charge, no admission charge, I wouldn’t be in East Memphis, and I’d get to squeeze an extra brewery visit into the weekend.

Leaning in the direction of Italian Fest, but we shall see. Time to get back to work. So ready for the weekend.

There will be a free yoga class at Tennessee Brewery Revival Saturday morning at 9:30. It’s hosted by Luluemon Athletics and looking at the Facebook event listing, I see that more than FOUR HUNDRED people are listed as attending. Can the brewery even hold that many people? Class will happen rain or shine.

My BBQ teammate Otto made a good point about TDOT closing the I-55 river bridge for nine months in 2017, a point I hadn’t previously thought of: That is going to jam up Riverside Drive. Southbound will be jammed with people getting off 40 trying to get to 55 South. Northbound will be jammed with people coming off 55 South trying to get to 40. City planners: I suggest you keep Riverside 4 lanes until that construction is over.

Know who I bet will be real happy about the I-55 bridge closing? Bass Pro.

Random fact I learned from @HistoryInPix today: The most flowers sold in one day in United States history were sold the day after Elvis died.

The Grizzlies will have a social media tent at Italian Fest where you can get your photo taken with life-size cutouts of the starting five.

I tried a beginner yoga class at Midtown Yoga in 2003, and let’s just say the result was pretty damn ugly, so don’t expect to see me at the brewery Saturday morning. However, DO expect to see me at the brewery in about 45 minutes! Friends of mine in town from Chicago are having a little get-together with their Memphis friends. Not only do I want to see them, but it doesn’t take much of a reason to get me to the brewery (provided beer is involved and exercise is not). If you’re headed that way, I will see you down there!

I want to start off today’s post with a reminder of what a wonderful community we have Downtown.

One of my friends had a couple of people over to his first-floor Downtown condo Saturday night after Sunset Symphony was over. The guests left a little after midnight. My friend didn’t bother to get up to lock the door; his building is behind a security gate so he didn’t think anything of it. He fell asleep in his living room chair, and a little while later he was awakened by the slam of a door. He got up to investigate and found that his wallet and his phone were gone.

“I was shaken up,” he told me. “I was glad I wasn’t hurt, but still, the next morning, I was ready to move out of Memphis.” He was also wondering how he was going to get through the rest of Memorial Day weekend. He had no cash, and no ATM card to go get cash, and the banks wouldn’t be open until Tuesday.

Then a beautiful thing happened. His friends heard what happened, and showed up at his door, handing him cash, in some cases as much as $200, and some of them were people who really couldn’t afford to part with that money but offered it to him anyway. “I had access to $1000 if I needed it,” my friend said. “Also, all the bars and restaurants I go to offered to run me tabs. They said, ‘If you need food, anything, order it and pay us back when you can.'” The outpouring of kindness and generosity really restored his faith in our city. Our Downtown community is truly a special one.

Compliment for a Downtown restaurant tweeted by legendary WWE announcer/Hall of Famer Jim Ross today: “Blue Plate Cafe in #Memphis best breakfast I’ve had in years.” For those new to the city, the restaurant is on the south side of Court Square and they serve lunch too.

It’s the last weekend for Tennessee Brewery: Revival. The brewery is open 11-9 today, 11-11 tomorrow and Saturday, 11-9 Sunday. Craft beer (and PBR!), food trucks, live music, art for sale, a game room, good people, good times. Invest in good times!

Out in East Memphis, Memphis Italian Festival starts today. It’s like BBQ Fest in that there are cook teams in booths competing, but Italian food instead. It’s at Marquette Park at the corner of Park and Mt. Moriah. The festival runs through Saturday.

Swingin’ Leroy headlines tonight’s Peabody rooftop party. $10 cover, doors open at 6, ladies free until 7. Admission includes a buffet of Italian sausage and ravioli, and if you’re in VIP there’s an additional buffet of brushetta, mini pizzas, and gnocchi with pesto cream sauce. There’s a peach margarita special, a Malibu promo of rum sparklers, and a bar promo of Bellini.

The Flying Saucer is having its anniversary party June 19. Here’s a look at the rare beers that will be on tap.

Pretty good night last night. I had a dinner of crawfish fritters and seaweed salad at Bluefin, then I wandered over to Blind Bear. My friend Zach was playing trivia as a team of one. The final question was, here are five news stories that TIME Magazine named the top five news stories in 2013. Charles listed the stories to be put in order: Government shutdown, Supreme Court finds for gay marriage, botched Obamacare rollout, Boston Marathon bombings, the Snowden leaks. I suspected Charles had done something clever: He had listed the stories in reverse order of their ranking. I told Zach, who went with my suspicion, and became the only player/team to take down the entire 45 points for the question, vaulting him into a second-place finish. That certainly worked out better than my “No idea” debacle at Saucer trivia last week!

Catching up with some old friends after work. Should be another fun evening. Outta here for now.

High schoolers: The Orpheum is accepting applications for its STAR (Students Take A Role) Council. Council members help plan and coordinate events throughout the year. This would look great on a college application, especially if you’re planning on being a theater major.

Looking in my spam folder this morning, I have to laugh. Subject: “Let’s get busty Celestyna Q. closer to Paul Ryburn and break the ice of love.” Interpretation: “Let’s get spammy hackers closer to Paul Ryburn’s sensitive bank account information.” I mean, are there really people stupid enough to fall for this kind of thing? I guess so because they keep sending it.

From WREG: Rowdy drivers block off busy street in Downtown Memphis. I had this happen to me one time, before I lived Downtown, in 2001. I was driving home from Raiford’s and due to street closures (I think it was during Memphis in May) I got re-routed onto Linden, between Third and Second. It took 35 minutes to get one block, and I was scared to death. Where were the police, I wondered.

This was all over Facebook yesterday but in case you missed it: Make Lego gummy pieces. We need these in the Moody Ques booth next year.

Photo from last night:

I really need to get up to the rooftop more and get more of these gorgeous sunsets. It was a goodbye party and I had a great time hanging out with my Number 10 Main family. It made me realize all the different families I have Downtown. There’s also my Moody Ques family… and I consider myself part of the Squeal Street family even though I am on a different team… and then there are my families at the various bars where I hang out. Grateful for all of them. They keep me sane… well, at least to some extent.

I’ll be out at the usual places after work. Time to run a few errands then back at it…

Quick time-sensitive post that is a good music alert. Bluesman Eric Hughes will be performing at Central BBQ Downtown today from noon to 3. If you want to start off your day with some excellent music, that is absolutely what I recommend.

I had one of the new steamed hot sandwiches from Max’s Sports Bar Friday night. Well, okay, I didn’t order one, but Michele gave me a piece of her sandwich. DAMN that was good. Max’s was never a food destination until they got that sandwich bar, but it is now. Give one a try if you haven’t already.

The Majestic Grille is having a paella patio party on June 9 in the next of its 10 ’til 10 series. I love paella! Anyone want to go?

So there’s a margarita festival on June 27 in Overton Park and a tamale festival not far away same date, practically the same time. Anyone else think a shuttle between the two would be a great idea? Do the people who run Ride the Roo read my blog?

The Weekend at Porky’s BBQ team is missing their team flag. If anyone has seen it email me at paul@paulryburn.com and I will arrange to get it back to them.

Bonus Panda time: Panda is working a double at Bardog on Memorial Day, 8 AM to 8 PM. Come see her. If you work Saturday day shift and don’t get any Panda time, this is your chance.

A few of us checked out Tin Roof yesterday afternoon. Here are a few pics.

First time I have ever had “totchos,” tater tots covered with toppings as though they were nachos. I must say, I am a fan. I will very likely go back for these.

Much later, at Blind Bear. Anna Carrie (Hope I spelled that right; in glasses) is a teacher and just started her 8-week summer vacation. I must admit I am rather jealous. I miss the schedule of teaching.

D-RANKS with B-RAD at 11 AM. A Sunday with no Monday behind it is going to be a very fun day.

Rare post from my phone. Damn the WordPress iPhone app has gotten super awesome since the last time I posted this way. Otto please pass my compliments on to the team.

So, I’m not doing Tube Top Month this year. But I like to have fun on this blog and try new and interesting things.

If I were to replace Tube Top Month with something else for one year only, original time frame (June only, not expanded), what would you recommend? Not at all restricted to women’s clothing items. Anything goes. Think as far out of the box as you want.

Email your ideas to paul@paulryburn.com. I want to have some fun and turn over new leaves on here. I appreciate your suggestions.

Yesterday I got off work a bit early. With most of my crew out of town, I decided to change things up and lead off at Max’s Sports Bar. About 6 PBRs and 3 Fireballs later, I decided it was time to make the trip back north. As I passed South of Beale I looked in the window, and saw Kaylea behind the bar. Kaylea used to work at Blind Bear and is one of my favorite people to harass. There were open bar seats, so I went in. I was just going to have a beer, but then I realized SOB has one of the best food menus in town and I should have a little something to eat.

I got the Reuben egg rolls, a take on the Reuben sandwich but as an egg roll. Corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese rolled up and fried, and served with a generous portion of SOB’s homemade Thousand Island. Yummy and exactly what I needed to keep going for another couple of hours. If you’re a fan of the sandwich, or of egg rolls, give them a try.

You know, there are a lot of different takes on egg rolls Downtown. SOB does the Reuben egg rolls… the Blue Monkey has its hot wing egg rolls… the Majestic has Cajun chicken egg rolls… Kooky Canuck has Asian BBQ egg rolls… and Yao’s has, well, egg rolls. Maybe we should organize an egg roll fest… heck, there’s a festival in Memphis for nearly every other kind of food.

I really enjoy being in South of Beale and wish I got in there more often. I feel the same comfort level there that I do in the bars I call my “Big Five” (Bardog/Bear/Saucer/Goose/Max’s). It’s just that when I want to hang out in the Downtown core, it’s slightly out of the way, and when I decide to head south, I tend to go all the way to Max’s (or this month, the brewery). SOB is a great place run by great people and needs to be on my radar more.

Definitely a high point in what has been mostly a crap week for me. However, the weekend is here and I am going to make the most of it. Hitting the usual place at 11 then I will see how I feel about getting out to Overton Square.